Erbarmen

I saw this on a rented DVD in 2014. Felt like writing a review before i watch two of its sequels. The plot - After a raid gone wrong that resulted in the death of one of his team and the paralysis of another, a homicide cop Nikolaj Lie Kaas has been kicked to the basement aka Department Q to tie off five years of unresolved cases along with an inexperienced assistant called Faras Faras. They wind up pursuing the case of a high-ranking female politician, a supposed suicide whose body was never found. In short this is Scandinavian Noir. The acting of the two leading detectives is assured and the cinematography is compelling. It is a perfectly adequate crime thriller that will appeal to fans of this genre. The Keeper of Lost Causes is genuinely gripping, even though the direction is fairly standard and the main plot elements are predictable. Fans of The Treatment, Marshland, Memories of murder, Headhunters, Insomnia, True Detectives - S1 will definitely enjoy this.

Caught the Danish premiere yesterday with a friend - going in without much in the way of expectations.

I'm still in the process of reading the book, which I think is a fine crime/thriller/drama - but not much more than that. Not sure what all the fuss is about - but maybe the latter half of the book will make that clear.

Inevitably, there are significant changes from the source - most notably the protagonist Carl Mørck being significantly younger in the film. But Nikolaj Lie Kaas does a fine job portraying the jaded and highly sarcastic cop despite his age, and he's a reasonable fit for the part.

Fares Fares plays Assad, the upbeat immigrant counterpart to Mørck - and he's the standout in the film, if you ask me. He's a pitch-perfect match for the character in the book, and he manages to give the part warmth, machismo and endearing humor all in one package. Pretty much exactly as I imagined him - and that includes his physical appearance.

The character of Merete Lynggaard is played by Sonja Richter - and I'm not sure what to think of her portrayal. It's for certain that she's done a great job with her physical appearance - which changes during the film, to a degree not unlike the well-known extremes like DeNiro in Raging Bull or Christian Bale in The Machinist. Not quite that extreme, but probably the most significant physical change I've seen in Danish acting. That's commendable, of course, but I honestly don't think she's a good fit for Merete as described in the book. It's mentioned several times that she's almost divine and irresistible in her beauty and charm.

I imagined her as having much more presence than Sonja, I have to say. Overall, I'll give her a pass because of the work she put into her body for the film - but I would have chosen someone else for the part.

As for the film itself - it obviously skips a lot of detail, but that's to be expected. I did miss some of the interplay between Mørck and his boss (played by Søren Pilmark) and they didn't do justice to his relationship with Hardy, his crippled-by-gunshot best friend (Troels Lyby).

But beyond those omissions, I found the experience very engaging and quite faithful to the book. The atmosphere is very strong - with great photography and lighting. It has a very suitable Noir feel throughout - and I particularly liked the music, which did a great job of setting the dark tone.

The locations are strong - and I must admit that the police station and its "Afdeling Q" basement looked more or less just like they did in my mind when reading.

The buddy cop partnership of Mørck and Assad is spot on - and has a great combination of humor and subtle mutual respect. The banter between these two guys is definitely the high-point of the film.

I'm not going to spoil anything - so it will suffice to say that the ending is good and extremely tense.

Essentially, it's a great adaption - and I don't think they could have done much better, given the nature of film and the limited run-time.

It probably bears repeating that I'm not a major fan of the book (based on the first half) - and as such, I might not be invested enough to notice all the flaws. So, take that into account when reading this review.

I hope I've been helpful ;)

If you like a cop thriller as much as I do, you are in the right place. I haven't read the book this is based on, but obviously and judging from what I saw in the movie, it must be good. There are more books (and it is obvious from the movie/story), so you might be getting even more from this (at least one other output is coming).

The acting is really good (even if it feels a bit moody and broody at times) and the story is even better. There are more things here to judge than just some bad guys, with even the cop having his flaws (transparent from the beginning). We also get nice touches (the coffee thing) to elevate the watching experience. An all around good take on a criminal story

If your a fan of Nordic noir like me then there is enough here in Department Q to keep you entertained for 90 minutes. Whilst I did find the plot far fetched and totally implausible. The fast paced script quality acting, and the usual dark moody cinematography the Danes do so well, made this an enjoyable watch and look forward to further installments.

Kvinden i buret has got the English, and much better title, The Keeper of Lost Causes, in stead of what should have been The caged woman. The Danish title is maybe the worst about this film, but still that's due to the Novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, which have had a good portion of success with the crime novels about detective Carl. The international title I find as very suitable, and promises more to come!

Carl (played by Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is a cop which after a mistake thrown off his normal job as detective, after nearly being shot. His wife has dumped him, his best friend and fellow detective is dead and his ex-partner crippled, both in the same case which nearly cost him life. He is put at a desk to close open old cases. But he has other plans. I'll leave the case here, but the film is so well made, and the actors play so well in a well crafted script by Nicolaj Arcel, which really is an amazing writer, that this is well worth a watch.

The film manages to be interesting all the way through, and even gives us as viewers some really hard scenes to watch, as well as giving some kins of flashbacks which is really fresh. The casting is also very good when it comes to these time flashbacks, which show real quality.

This is the start of a franchise of Adler-Olsen filmed novels, and I hope the next will be just as good. Nicolaj Lie-Kaas has said yes to three more. Surprisingly also well known Swedish comedy film maker Fares Fares function as his sidekick, though his Danish is quite bad. But it works, due to his credibility, and that he is a foreign breaking on Danish.

Check it out.